Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail
Summary: Zeref promised to join Natsu for New Years eve, though cancels because of work. However, Natsu suspects that something else might be afoot. (Plus he's just genuinely furious and wants to beat Zeref up.)
In the dead of night, a house in the middle of town was dead silent. It was dark, not a single light on. Within the house sat a man with pink hair sprouting wildly from his head. He had his face buried in his hands, his shoulders hunched.
His brother, the one that had not come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas because he was working, promised to come for New Years because he had the day off. But apparently, Natsu should've learned by now that Zeref didn't keep his promises ever. Especially not when it came to Natsu.
Natsu had gotten Zeref's text a while back, telling Natsu that he wouldn't be able to make it because the company was making him work late. Yeah, right. Zeref would work late even if no one told him too. And he'd definitely do it to avoid being with Natsu. Especially when Natsu checked his phone and Zeref posted he was with his girlfriend. But Natsu didn't even bother pointing out his lie this time. He'd done it too many times and Zeref would just come up with another excuse… somehow. Natsu honestly didn't know how he found the time to do such things, but he did and he guessed that was what mattered.
Natsu had long-since stopped wondering why his brother tried to ignore him and get out of hanging out with him. Instead, Natsu called him, feeling angry, his brother was lying again, and Natsu wouldn't point out the fact that he'd lied… maybe, but he would give Zeref the chance to tell him the truth, even if Natsu knew that Zeref would not take his chance. "Hello?" the voice over the phone was quiet and confused. "Natsu, I told you I was at work. What if I had been doing something important and your call made my phone ring so loud that I messed up?"
"Zeref… where are you? You promised you were coming…"
"I know, little brother, it's just I have so much work to do here. I can't step away, not even for a second."
"Then why are you with Ultear?"
"… I don't know what you're talking about."
"ZEREF!" Natsu screamed, unable to put up with him anymore. "I know that you lied! I know that your with Ultear it says so right here on your social media page!"
"Natsu, you know those things glitch. That's not accurate. I'm here, at work."
"Promise?" Natsu asked, glaring at his TV.
"Promise." Zeref told him.
"Hey, honey, who're you talking to?" Natsu heard a voice.
"Ultear, shhh!" Zeref whispered, but Natsu, with his keen ears, heard exactly what Zeref had said.
"You lying piece of crap!" Natsu screamed, jumping up from his position. "I am coming over there, right now, and I'm going to beat that crap right out of you!"
"Natsu, wait-." But that was all Natsu heard before he hung up. He grabbed his coat and ran out to his car.
On the ride there, Natsu took more turns than he remembered ever taking, and for some reason, he'd never notice how dark a street Zeref's house was on. Finally, he parked and got out, slamming the door behind him. The car ride had helped him cool off a bit and Natsu did not think he would beat up his brother anymore, though he'd still think about it.
Natsu walked up to his house and knocked on the door, before waiting patiently for Zeref to come out. "Hey, Natsu…" Zeref said, opening the door. "You should go… Ultear and I are busy…" More lies. Ultear's car wasn't in the driveway, meaning she'd left.
"No! Zeref Dragneel you open that door and let me in or I'll break it open!" Zeref bit his lip and slowly opened the door, stepping aside. As soon as Natsu walked in, he tackled his brother to the floor. Seeing his face just served to make Natsu angrier. "Why do you keep lying to me, huh? Why don't you want to come over? What's so wrong with seeing me!"
"I-I… I'm sorry!" he cried, struggling. "I can't see you because… because…"
"Because?"
"Because…"
"I'm starting to think you're just stalling a massive beating."
"N-no… just, leave me alone, Natsu. Please…"
"No…" Natsu shook his head. "Tell me."
"I can't!" he burst into tears. Natsu slowly let go of him, getting off him. He grabbed Zeref's wrist and dragged him into a sitting position.
"Why not?" Natsu asked, softer this time.
"B-because…" Zeref said, wiping his tears quickly away. "I can't tell you."
"Yes you can." Natsu said softly, gently wiping the remainder of his brother's tears away. Zeref shook his head, whimpering slightly. "Come on, tell Natsu all about it."
Zeref had always had a very hard time trusting people. That's why he lied so much, so that he could break the other person's trust before that person had the time to betray him. "Come on Zeref, I'm your brother. If you can trust anybody, you can trust me." Natsu said.
"No, Natsu you don't understand!" Zeref cried. "I can't-." a knock at the door sounded, Zeref jumped what seemed like three feet in the air before throwing himself on Natsu, clinging to him, and shaking like a leaf. Zeref glanced up at Natsu and then started crying again.
Natsu looked down at Zeref and then glared at the door. Was this why Zeref was lying to him? Natsu didn't understand yet. "OPEN UP!" he heard someone yell. Natsu frowning, got up.
"I'm coming."
"N-no…" Zeref whispered, shaking his head.
"Zeref, who are these people?" Natsu asked. "Tell me or I'm opening that door."
"T-they're a gang, they want money… money that I don't have." Zeref whispered. Only then did the bruises become apparent to him.
"Zeref, hide. I'll deal with them." Natsu cracked his knuckles.
"N-Natsu, you don't understand. There's so many of them…"
"So? They've got to know what happens when someone messes with my family. What happens when someone makes my family so afraid they won't come see me because it means that I might get involved… and I certainly won't let them beat you up because that's my job."
"Natsu, I'm worried about you! I'm your older brother! Nothing's supposed to happen to you because I'm supposed to protect you!"
"I know, and you will. I mean, I'm not going to get hurt. I know you've never been much of a fighter, and if these guys think that it's okay to gang up on someone then they're obviously not so tough."
"No, Natsu." Zeref said harshly. "I've taken several self-defense classes. They've still gotten me, several times. These guys are no amateurs."
"I don't care. They hurt you… so now they're gonna hurt!"
Zeref didn't think that really made sense, but he dismissed it. "Natsu, stop…" Zeref whispered. "Please don't… I don't want you to get hurt, and they might even kill you if you get in their way. Please, Natsu."
Natsu smiled slightly, "Go, hide. I took several martial arts, heck I was the best fighter in high school. I wasn't scared of nobody! And they all knew not to mess with me!"
"That is not true. What about Gray-."
"He was different, I never got serious."
"- and Laxus-."
"I only lost one time!"
"-That's because you only challenged him one time."
"Yeah, well-!"
"- and Gildarts-"
"-But he's a teacher-!"
"-and Erza…" Natsu paused, blinking and finally shuddered.
"Alright, I'll give you that one. She was freaking scary." Zeref nodded in agreement. "But she was the only one!"
"If you say so, little brother." Zeref said amusedly.
"Open up!"
"I'm not going anywhere." Zeref said seriously. Natsu glanced at him, sighed, and then nodded, not bothering to argue because his older brother was even more stubborn than he was.
"Alright." Natsu said, walking over to the door and opening it. The guy had been about to pound on the door again so he ended up punching Natsu's forehead instead of the door. "Ouch!" Natsu cried, falling to the ground, rubbing his forehead. "What was that for."
"Oops, sorry… wait, who're you?" he asked, clenching his fists.
"I'm Natsu Dragneel, Zeref's big brother." Now that Natsu was looking at him it appeared Zeref lied again. There was only one, and he wasn't even armed.
"Natsu! I-!"
"I didn't say older, I said bigger. And it's true. I'm like, 3 inches taller than you!"
"Are not, you're barely 2!"
"Potayto-Potahto." Natsu said, shrugging. Zeref glared at him for a moment before turning to the man in his living room.
"Look, I don't have the money, I'm sorry… I'll have it for you in a few days if you just give me some more ti-."
"You're out of time, Dragneel. We've been giving you an extension for two weeks. Now, we want that million dollars."
"I-I…"
"I know you have it! It's not a hard proposition. You stole a million dollars from us. You spent some of it, but not all of it. It's not an impossible task, all we want is what we're owed, what was stolen from us."
"You stole from them?" Natsu asked incredulously.
"Well… well I…" Zeref glanced sheepishly at Natsu.
"That was hard-earned money!"
"Yeah!" Natsu started, "But that doesn't give you the right to beat him up!"
"How dare you make such an accusation! If I wanted to beat him up I'd of done it the first time he failed to give the money on time." Natsu was silent for a long time before turning to Zeref,
"You lied to me." He said.
"Yeah well, it wasn't hard." Zeref muttered.
"So that you could get out of paying him back."
"Yeah, you're lucky I didn't call the cops on you, kid."
"The hell's your problem!" Natsu growled, grabbing Zeref's shoulders. "If he didn't beat you up, then how'd you get those bruises… I wouldn't be surprised if you beat yourself up so that if anyone asks where you got them you can blames some poor innocent person!"
"Natsu…"
"You want to get beat up? Oh, I'll beat you up!" Natsu lunged at him. Zeref went into a self-defense position, easily immobilizing Natsu by grabbing his arm and locking using his momentum to twist him around. Natsu felt himself slammed up against the wall, his brother's knee on his back.
"Oh yes, I suppose I left one person out of our little list of people who can beat you. You never could win, could you?" Natsu growled, struggling. After a while of struggling Natsu threw dignity out the window, looking behind him at Zeref,
"Zeref!... Zeref, your hurting me." Natsu gave the puppy eyes. Zeref hesitated slightly before releasing him. Natsu turned around and instantly tackled him, pinning his brother's hands above his head and twisting him around. Their weight brought them down so Zeref landed face-first on the floor. "And you seem to forget I'd turn around and tackle you. Because every time the puppy-dog eyes work."
Zeref struggled, though not hard. Zeref knew this position well and therefore knew he would not be able to break out of it. "Say you're sorry."
"I'm sorry Natsu…" Zeref said.
"No, not to me, to him!" Natsu shouted. He reached in front and grabbed Zeref's face, squishing his cheeks together and forced him to look at the mildly disturbed man, standing in the living room.
"Sorry." Zeref said.
"And you're going to pay him back! How much left does he owe?" Natsu asked.
"Uh… you know, it's really not that much, I could just go…" the man said.
"How much!" Natsu demanded.
"… 100,000." Natsu's mouth dropped open.
"W-wait, I got 20,000 of that." Zeref said weakly.
"Oh did you now?" Natsu asked, "Well that's still 70,000 dollars you owe!"
"Actually, it's 80,000." Zeref corrected.
"Even worse!" Natsu paused. "How could you not tell me? You lie to everyone, why is that?"
"No one deserves my trust. They'll just break it." Natsu bit his lip, glaring,
"Well, you need to get over that. So, after I punish you we're going to play the trust game." Natsu looked up at the man. "I'm so sorry for my brother. We will have that money at the end of the week, I promise."
"… Alright." The man said. "I'll trust you to keep your promise. Okay, I'll be back early Sunday morning."
"Yes sir. We will have the money by then."
Then, the man left, sending worried looks at the two of them. After he was gone, Natsu shot his brother a look that could kill. "Alright, now for your punishment we're going to play your favorite game."
"My… my favorite game?" Zeref asked cautiously (his favorite game was truth or dare because he got to screw people over.)
"Yep, you're favorite game." Natsu said smirking.
"Oh, that favorite game…" Zeref said. "Oh no…"
"Oh, yes." Natsu said, grabbing Zeref's finger and bending it backwards.
"Ah, ow! Mercy!" Zeref cried. Zeref's favorite game was Natsu's version of Mercy, which is when they played Mercy… without the mercy part.
"Ah, Zeref, you know that no matter how much you beg I won't stop until I feel like it." Natsu said.
"Natsu!"
After about 30 minutes and Zeref with several twisted fingers. Natsu stopped and let go. "Hey, you'd always rub my fingers after." Zeref said. Natsu rolled his eyes and hopped up from the floor. "What are you doing?" Zeref asked, suspecting he was not going to like Natsu's answer.
"Next, we're going to play trust."
"Fine…" Zeref grumbled.
"And you're going to be blinded."
"This is not how I wanted to spend new years."
"Too bad." Natsu shrugged. "Do you have a blindfold anywhere?"
"Of course I do, I'm not stupid." Zeref said, going to his bedroom and grabbing a blue blindfold off the dresser. He returned with it, holding it out to Natsu.
His little brother grabbed it and tied it around his face. "Alright, there we go. Now then, every time you trust me you get a reward."
"What's the reward?"
"… something painful doesn't happen."
"Oh…well then, it'll be easy to trust you… unless the game's already started. What if your lying to me and it's the opposite of what you say, what if, I trust you and then something painful happens! And what if I don't trust you and nothing happens… or what if no matter what I do, something painful happens! What if your lying about the painful part… what if nothing happens. What if it doesn't matter what I do…" Natsu could tell what Zeref was thinking.
"No, do not lie or try to trick me out of it. Lying to me and playing dirty will get you the worst punishment of all."
"… Mercy without mercy?"
"You know me well… now then, come over here." He placed Zeref in the kitchen. Alright now all you have to do is make it to me. I'm going to give you directions and you're going to follow them, alright? Pretty simple?" Zeref nodded.
"Alright, then come on, just walk straight." Zeref slowly walked straight. "Now take a left." Natsu said as Zeref drew nearer to a chair in his path. Zeref ignored him and turned right, knocking into the wall. "Uh… your other left."
"Oh… sorry, I didn't realize."
Natsu growled under his breath. More lies. "Alright, turn left." Zeref didn't listen to him again and kept backing into things and tripping over things. "Zeref! If you would just listen! I'm not lying to you! I'm not a liar like you are!"
"Natsu, I can't." Zeref said, reaching to take the blindfold off.
"You do that and we're playing Mercy without mercy!" Zeref ignored him took off the blindfold and stared straight into Natsu's eyes,
"Not if you can't catch me." Zeref said and then took off. Natsu didn't even know why he tried, Zeref was beyond saving, but he did so anyway.
"ZEREF!" Natsu cried, running as fast as he could. He grabbed the back of Zeref's shirt and slammed him against the wall. Zeref started coughing, struggling. "The hell is wrong with you?"
"I… I just can't, Natsu. Can't trust anyone, you knew what happened…"
"I know she left you… I know she told you she'd be right back and she never came back. I know because I held you as you blubbered to me about how much you loved her. But you know what else? It's not her fault she died. She couldn't control that. And no matter how much you want to, you couldn't control it either."
"She never came back…" he whispered.
"I know." Natsu said. "I know it hurts. But you gotta move on Zeref. It's been years…"
"B-but I can't-!"
"I know. I guess it's not time yet." Natsu plopped down on the floor, setting Zeref next to him. "But she's up there. And she wouldn't want you to be sad because of something unavoidable."
"But it was! I could've done something!"
"There's nothing you could've done."
"But I loved her…" Zeref whispered.
"Everybody loves somebody… but only sometimes that love survives."
"What about you Natsu. You haven't found anybody since Lucy dumped you in high school." Natsu winced, glaring at him. Zeref smiled somewhat mischievously,
"I know it hurts. But you gotta move on Natsu. It's been years…"
"DON'T use my own words against me." Zeref shrugged.
"It's what I'm best at."
"… You know, I don't need anybody else in my life. You're quite enough work." Zeref pouted slightly as Natsu ruffled his hair and stood. "Alright, I don't know about you, but I wanna watch the count down." Natsu said. He walked into the living room and turned on the TV. It was only 5 minutes until the countdown.
"Natsu… I'm sorry about how much I've been lying to you." Zeref said, glancing up at him. Natsu knew this was probably a lie also, but he did not comment on it.
"Thanks, Zeref."
"… Now you're supposed to say you're sorry for hitting me."
"Oh yes, I'm supposed to say it, and I could say it, but I'm not gonna. Because I'm not sorry. It would be a lie. And you already lie enough for everyone on the planet." Zeref rolled his eyes.
"59, 58, 57, 56," everyone on the TV started counting down.
"Natsu, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you hate me?" Zeref asked. Natsu was silent, staring at the countdown.
"Can I say zero?"
"Um… no?"
"Then one, I guess."
"I see… Natsu…" Natsu turned to him, "… Nothing." Zeref said finally, looking away. Natsu shrugged but heard Zeref mumble into Natsu's shoulder, "I love you, younger brother."
"Zeref," Zeref jumped and looked at him,
"Yeah?"
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,"
"I love you too little brother." Natsu said. Zeref smiled softly,
"4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year." Natsu said, taking Zeref's hand and rubbing his bruising fingers.
"Yeah, Happy New Year… hang on…" Zeref seemed to realize exactly what Natsu had said, "I'm the big brother!" Natsu snorted,
"Come back when you're not lying."
A/N It's New Years today where I am, so here's the special that I wrote this week. I hope you enjoyed it. In the beginning Zeref really was supposed to be getting bullied by a gang but somehow Zeref lying to Natsu to protect him from getting involved turned into Zeref being a compulsive liar. (And just so we're clear, he did give himself those bruises) and the girl who Zeref is talking about can be any girl (besides Ultear) I imagine Mavis because I ship them, but it can be anybody. Thanks for reading reviews/favorites/follows are all motivating. I'll see you next time, bye!